Is the punishment too low?

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Australian prosecutors plan to challenge sentence against former Archbishop Wilson for abuse cover-up. The sentence was unreasonably low, the appeal said.

The 67-year-old Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, had been sentenced on 3. July by a Newcastle court to a sentence of 12 months in prison, which was commuted to house arrest in mid-August.

The court had found Wilson guilty of covering up abuse allegations by altar boys against priest James Fletcher as a young priest in Newcastle more than four decades ago. For duration of house arrest, Wilson must wear electronic ankle bracelets.

Resigned from office as archbishop under prere

On 30. August, Wilson, for his part, appealed his conviction. Appeal hearing to be held in October. However, the prosecution has managed to get its appeal heard first, according to Australian media. The first date to be set, he said, was 13. September has been set.

Under prere from now ousted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and wide swaths of the Australian media public, Wilson had been sentenced on 30. July resigned from his post as archbishop of Adelaide. The office had rested Wilson immediately after his conviction.

After the sentencing, Judge Robert Stone said Tuesday, according to media reports, in justifying the sentence, that the defendant had shown no remorse. The maximum statutory penalty for covering up sexual abuse is two years in prison.

Abuse victim asked for help in vain

The Catholic Bishops' Conference expressed hope in a press statement that the sentence against the Archbishop of Adelaide "will bring some measure of peace and healing to those who have been abused by the late priest James Fletcher".

Abuse victim Peter Creigh had told Australian media before the verdict that he wanted to see Archbishop Wilson in prison. Creigh had been abused several times by Fletcher in the 1970s as an altar boy in the Diocese of Newcastle.

The teenager asked the then young priest Wilson for help in vain. A prison sentence, Creigh said, would send a clear signal to church leaders that covering up sexual abuse would no longer be tolerated.

Pope Benedict XVI offered a special greeting. during Tuesday's Vespers service to the delegation from the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany, which included Gunther Beckstein. In an interview from Rome, the EKD synod vice president reports on his meeting with the pope and the current problems of ecumenism, also with regard to the Reformation anniversary in 2017.

We do not want to celebrate this 500th anniversary of the Reformation against the Catholic Church, but together with the Catholics. For it is important to us that ecumenism is one of the central tasks of Christians. That's why we followed in the footsteps of Luther via Milan to Rome and had a very, very good conversation with Pope Benedict XVI.. He has stressed that it is important not to look solely at the 500 years since the Reformation, but also to look at the 1500 years before that. And to confess to each other the guilt that both churches have brought upon themselves in the years after the Reformation. But above all, to see how we can bring Christianity closer to people in a secularized world in the future.

Interviewer: Will there be Catholic involvement now then?

Beckstein: Yes, the pope has promised that the Catholic Church will also be involved. He also pointed out, and this was very remarkable for me, that even earlier popes have pointed out that Luther was an important church leader who also brought his contributions to theology. And this is reinforced by today's pope, who of course, as a German-born pope, also knows Lutheranism in a special way.
Interviewer: Were general similarities and differences in ecumenism also an ie??

Beckstein: This was a big topic and last night we were also invited to the evening vespers in St. The Pope himself gave a speech at the meeting of St. Paul, where he also welcomed our delegation explicitly and in German. The Pope has emphasized that ecumenism is a very central task of Christians, the ONE Church, where unity in diversity must be the goal. This means that the differences are not understood as a quarrel, but as an enrichment of faith.
Interviewer: The opinions of Protestant and Catholic dignitaries in Germany diverge, especially on the subject of pre-implantation diagnostics. Is that, in your opinion, a problem for a common understanding?

Beckstein: So the Pope has explicitly pointed out to us that the question of divergent ideas in the field of ethics is a problem, although with regard to the United Evangelical Lutheran Church this is less the pre-implantation diagnostics, because there just the leading bishop Friedrich is of the clear opinion that there must not be any kind of selection of lives. So he is on the same line as the Catholic Church. More problematic is the question of same-sex partnerships in parishes. The topic was not directly addressed, but it was noticeable that the Pope is not on the side of those who supported this decision.
Interviewer: Both churches are struggling for their faithful, both are increasingly preaching in empty churches. Isn't that also where cooperation is inevitable?

Beckstein: It is indeed important that in a time when Christians are becoming a minority, also in parts of Germany and in the area of the Arab countries, where we are a very small minority, the message of Jesus Christ is not obscured by disputes among Christians. It is our task to make sure that people are made aware of this message. It is also something wonderful to have a personal God who forgives guilt and to carry this message is given to all of us. There are certain theological differences about the function of the pope, about the question of the ministry as a whole and the question of the common communion in faith-divergent marriages. This ie has also been raised, but of course not resolved. But this is the task, that Christians can celebrate their faith with each other and do not put the dividing things in the foreground, but the common Christian basis. The Bible and our Lord God are given to us together.

Interview: Heike Sikoni

Ten years after the cases at canisius college came to light

Ten years ago, three former students of Canisius College told Father Mertes that they had been sexually abused. Father made the cases public and called on those affected to come forward.

Exactly ten years ago, three former students of the Berlin Jesuit school Canisius-Kolleg informed the principal, Father Klaus Mertes, about cases of abuse. Mertes made the acts public and called on others affected to come forward. This marked the beginning of the abuse debate in the Catholic Church in Germany, which continues to this day. An overview of ten years of abuse scandal in the Catholic Church:

January 2010: The head of the Jesuit Canisius College in Berlin, Father Klaus Mertes, publicizes the abuse scandal at his school through a letter to former students. Jesuits had sexually abused pupils in the 1970s and 80s. He thus triggers a wave of revelations about abuse cases in the church, but also in schools and other institutions.

February 2010: Bishops ask for apology over abuse cases at their plenary meeting in Freiburg, Germany. Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier becomes special representative for the topic. A hotline for victims is being set up.
March 2010: Church participates in round table set up by federal government.
August 2010: The bishops are tightening up their "guidelines on how to deal with sexual abuse". Credibly suspected clergy must now be immediately suspended from ministry.
September 2010: The president of the Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, proposes a "broad process of reflection" by bishops, priests and lay people. In doing so, the church hopes to regain trust. The bishops present a concept of prevention. Among other things, each diocese is to set up a corresponding office. A "prevention fund" is also established for particularly innovative church projects. The Bishops' Conference presents a concept for the compensation of victims of sexual abuse at the Round Table. This includes the payment of a sum of money, which is supposed to be "financial recognition" of the suffering inflicted.
July 2011: The bishops announce two research projects for the scientific processing of sexual abuse in the church.
December 2012: The results of the first research project are presented. In it, forensic scientist Norbert Leygraf concludes, among other things, that only a few Catholic priests who abused minors were pedophiles in a clinical sense.
August 2013: Bishops' conference ies yet another set of tougher guidelines on dealing with sexual abuse. According to the study, clergy who have abused wards should not be allowed to return to pastoral ministry if "such ministry poses a danger to minors or adult wards or causes a nuisance". The Bishops' Conference rejects a complete ban on employment for priests who have been sexually assaulted, following the example of the U.S. bishops.
March 2014: The bishops commission a research association around the Mannheim psychiatrist Harald Drebing with the scientific reappraisal. The goals are to collect quantitative data on the frequency and handling of sexual acts of abuse against minors by clerics. In addition, perpetrator strategies, victim experience and the behavior of those responsible will be investigated.
2016: A first partial study is presented. The latter had taken a look at abuse investigations from other countries. After that, perpetrators were primarily parish priests and other priests (over 80 percent). About one third were found to be emotionally or sexually immature, one in five had a personality disorder, and 17.7 percent had characteristics of pedophilia. Alcohol dependence was found in 13.1 percent of the offenders.
September 2018: At the bishops' fall plenary assembly, participating scholars present findings of abuse study commissioned by bishops. Accordingly, the researchers have recommended 3.677 victims of sexual assault by at least 1.670 priests and religious found in files from 1946 to 2014. The bishops adopt a seven-point plan in which they commit, among other things, to involving victims of abuse and external independent experts more closely in the process of coming to terms with it. They also want to clarify who bore institutional responsibility beyond the perpetrators, such as for cover-ups or the transfer of perpetrators.
March 2019: After intensive wrangling, the German bishops decide on a "binding synodal path" to regain trust after the abuse scandal and to ask about the systemic causes of the abuse.
September 2019: Bishops decide in Fulda to reorganize and significantly expand compensation for victims. A heated debate ensues over the amount of compensation and whether the money should be paid from church taxes. A working group set up by the bishops' conference had proposed compensation of up to 400.000 euros recommended.
September 2019: The Institute for Prevention and Reappraisal of Sexualized Violence (IPA) in Lantershofen begins its work. As a "think tank," the ecclesiastical institute is to network actors in the fight against abuse, put previous measures to the test and look for new ideas, for example in the area of further education.
November 2019: The German government's abuse commissioner, Johannes-Wilhelm Rorig, and Trier Bishop Stephan Ackermann agree on key points for coming to terms with sexual abuse. Accordingly, the processing in the Catholic dioceses should be transparent and according to uniform criteria. Also, independent experts are to participate in the process.
December 2019: Top representatives from politics and civil society attend the kick-off meeting of a national council to combat sexual abuse. It is to permanently secure the structures for protection, prevention and intervention in cases of sexualized violence against children and adolescents.
December 2019: Bishops' Conference publishes new tightened guidelines for dealing with abuse cases and announces plans to set up an advisory council for victims.

December 2019: Pope Francis abolishes the "papal secret" in the prosecution of abuse cases. An instruction replaces the strictest duty of confidentiality previously applicable in church criminal proceedings for sexual offenses, such as sexual acts with minors, possession and distribution of child pornography material, and cover-ups.

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